Mined your own business [Job/Garret]

Job Details:

Garret had returned to the Villa HQ a couple days back, reporting his findings to Quintus Titus. Mortified, the head treasurer assured Garret that he would personally overview all of the records and rotate several auditors to ensure such things were not occurring in other branches as well. Garret pardoned the man at that, as he was certain that this was simply an isolated incident. He informed the treasurer as well as Aulus Ovidius of Martialis Lucilius' promotion to cell leader for the vacancy that Janus left behind.

With his current understanding of the accounting department, he felt satisfied that he could understand a fair amount of what they did and what kind of things would impact their operations. Garret's next goal was to check up on the equipment management. The equipment of an operative was imperative to the operative's success, and he knew they maintained and created various goods that were essential in the field. Garret hummed to himself slightly, in a good mood even though the most recent events had touched up on things he did not like, and arrived at Martinus Gallus' workshop. The place was busy, secluded from the rest of the building, and hot. Half the place was a forge, and the other half was a workshop for hand-crafted production that didn't require heat.

When Garret arrived in the room, Martinus almost immediately noticed him. Most of the individuals were engrossed in their job, working hard to create top-grade equipment that would hold under stress for those who were on the job out in the field. Hailing the spymaster, Martinus called Garret over to his desk. When he approached, he noted the other man also had a smile on his face. "I heard about what happened with the accounting incident." Garret was only moderately surprised to hear that, as they did work in a place that was based around the gathering of information. Most of the upper level individuals knew a majority of what took place around the villa, even if the lower level operatives only had guesses. "So, here to learn a bit about what we do, like you did over there? I'd welcome an extra hand, but it requires a lot of training to do most of the stuff here. We don't do basic blacksmithing, which can be sourced outside of our organization to other blacksmiths.

Garret nodded. The man knew why he was there, and was already giving him the run down on operations. He appreciated that. "Interesting. I knew we ordered basic supplies from people, and produced most of our own stuff for more... Exotic things. Just how much do we source outside of our own forges?"

Martinus shrugged as he took Garret around the blacksmith forge and workshop, showing the various bits of equipment they created and maintained. "Anything for general every day use that citizens and merchants have need of are delegated out to the various merchants in the cities that the cells operate out of. Things like equipment, as you know... Or maybe don't, seeing as you were already equipped when you came here... Regardless, an operative is provided the funds to purchase basic weapons and equipment that a caravan guard may have interest in purchasing. This allows us to source our weapon purchases and basic maintenance in a manner that doesn't seem suspicious to others. Any specialty gear that may arouse suspicions, such as grapple hooks, large amounts of throwing knives, or other Kou traditional weaponry are created in our own forge here. Before the Villa, we had to import those directly from Kou and it was a nightmare when we ran out of something due to equipment breaking or being lost." He shook his head, remembering the 'good old days'. Likely the only thing that had kept them from completely floundering was Acius' expert logistics and the operation's will to push forward.

"What of materials? I don't recall seeing a lot of them come in..." Garret wondered what they did in order to hide or obfuscate the obtaining of the raw materials for their organization, but Martinus simply laughed at the question.

"Sir, most of what we do here is maintenance on equipment that may be ending its line. While it would be nice to have a reliable source of materials, we don't import a large amount of raw materials here... Though, on occasion when we really do need some materials, Marinus Nerva manages to get his hands on some discreetly..."

Speaking of the Troubleshooter, Garret wondered how the man was doing. The last thing that he had heard from the man was that the species that they had fought previously were wiped out from within a respectable distance of where Portsmouth was intended to be. The man was a rare gem that likely supported their organization in many ways that Garret wasn't eve aware of. It seemed the man had the respect of every department head he had spoken to thus far, and that respect was normally shown in the meetings that were held when Marinus had anything to say on a matter.

"Speaking of Marinus, he was actually supposed to retrieve a rare metal for us a while back. Unfortunately it looks like he's got other work that he's doing, so we may have to wait for some time... Unless there was someone willing to go through the danger of retrieving that metal?" Martinus looked pointedly at Garret, who sighed.

Shaking his head, Garret spoke. "Alright, I'll bite. What are we looking at, here?" Garret was secretly pleased. He would be able to determine what kind of things the Troubleshooter did on his time when Garret did not require the man's attentions on other areas of operations that he was directly overseeing. The man was easily the largest mystery that Garret was in charge of, and he was determined to understand him better.

Martinus explained to Garret the details of the mission, outlining the danger of the various creatures that existed and protected the mine. The metal in question was the product of a creature known as a 'Mine Guardian'. More specifically, one of the older versions of such a creature. They secreted a sticky substance that bound rocks to their bodies and provided them a hard outer shell to protect them from, as their body by itself was extremely fragile. Over time, this substance melts and melds the stones together, creating a rare alloy of metal that is incredibly tough yet very flexible. This combination of properties makes it ideal for weapons and armor, allowing a high level of flexibility even under adverse conditions.


Garret took off on the mission and arrived at the mines he was directed to. Just outside, before he approached, he saw a creature that fit the description of what Martinus provided him, albeit it seemed to still be young in age. Taking out Kuroi Shimo, Garret prepared himself for the fight he would have ahead of him. He was preparing to attack it but was soon interrupted by the attack of another Mine Guardian, similar to the first he had noted, that had somehow managed to sneak up behind him. It's fist had slammed into Garret's Borg, but had barely managed to dent it. Quickly responding to it, Garret pivots on his left foot and sends out a River Styx Style: Water Corrosion kick towards the large creature, straight in the gut. The kick seemed to have been strong enough to push the rock straight into the creature and deal a lethal blow, killing it in the process. The creature let out a death cry, however, and the other Mine Guardian approached him.

Not allowing the opponent to seize the flow, Garret immediately dashed forward to meet the Mine Guardian head on. He jumped up with River Styx Style: Water Falls in Reverse, over the creature's attack, and performed the River Styx Style: Tranquil Strike to the creature with a similar amount of force as the water corrosion he had used earlier on this creature's kin. The stinging pain from punching a stone rocked Garret's knuckles, however the blow was enough to dispatch this creature as well. Garret waved his hand in a short motion to 'fan off' the heat from the pain that had occurred and mentally reminded himself to not punch stones in the future.

He walked into the mine, knowing that the one he was looking for would be deeper within, surrounded by high-quality stone that would provide it with an extremely valuable material that covered its body. As he moved through the entrance, Garret found himself face to face with a strange creature that stuck its tongue out before retracting it. Ignoring Garret, it continued eating the various stones around the entrance. Garret edged his way past it, not trying to start a fight with the creature, before continuing into the mine. The mine itself was abandoned, though it wasn't completely mined out. It seemed as if the individuals who owned the mines prior went bankrupt. He chuckled; the mines he owned were doing fairly decently. The thought occurred to him that, as the Villa was registered under his legal name, he could transfer the ownership of the mine to his legal name and claim to use it as a partial 'stocking' facility for such materials. Garret would keep note of that, and have that taken care of with haste when he returned.

His ruminations were interrupted by the appearance of a larger creature than the one from before. This creature also had a shiny sheen to his outer layer, and Garret was certain that he stood before the Old Mine Guardian. It was already aware of him, and approaching Garret quickly. Garret knew that the attacks of this one would be on a different level, and as such he quickly leveled Kuroi Shimo to the beast. He had to be careful not to deal damage to the mine around him. The last thing he wanted was a cave-in. Garret commanded the Rukh around him and cast the spell Jet Stream. The cutting power blew into the metal of the creature, leaving a small open wound a half a meter long in the creature, which let out a scream of anger. The creature threw a large 5 meter rock towards Garret, which moved at incredible speed. Garret responded in kind with his Controlling the Currents spell. The attack and his spell clashed, and the water managed to push the rock to a standstill. Both the gush of water and the rock itself were nullified. As the water dissipated, the rock fell to the ground.

Enraged by its ineffective attack, the Old Mine Guardian came charging at Garret. It had attempted a Double Smash, though Garret was somewhat ready for that and diverted the ability with River Styx Style: Pond Reflects and River Styx Style: Tranquil Parry. Both attacks slid to either side of the intended target, and Garret used that opportunity to jump up and strike the creature square in the spot that had been opened up earlier with a magoi enforced hand, performing River Styx Style: Ikken Hissatsu: Deep Sea Harpoon. The technique pierced directly into the creature's body, instantly snuffing out the creature's life.

Garret began the process of removing the metals in question. They were incredibly heavy, and as such he would have to drag a majority out of the place until he was able to load it up in the wagon that he had taken to get there. In the meantime, however, he would bring this first load out there to get a head start on that operation.

As he began making his way to the exit, he heard a hissing sound from a creature. Ahead of him was the Rock Eater, and it did not seem to want to let Garret pass. Garret brought his wand out one more time. He hadn't the patience to deal with the all these creatures, and wanted to get the metals back to Martinus as soon as possible. With his commands to the Rukh given, and a drop of his blood added to the spell, Garret called upon Rithux, The Water Dragon. The creature grew 2 meters in diameter and 10 meters in length, keeping to a small size due to the nature of the mine. "Attack that creature!" Garret commanded Rithux to attack the Rock Eater, and Rithux went forth, using solid teeth, and biting into the creature. The much smaller creature attempted to claw at Rithux, but the strength of the Water Dragon overpowered the creature and completely destroyed it. Garret sighed, exhausted from the work, and stopped sustaining the spell.

The rest of that day was spent carrying the metals back to the wagon before heading back to HQ.

OOC:

Word Count: 2163/1500
Magoi|Stamina: 90/300

Abilities Used: